Millard, Stretz Hired to Coach D-LinePosted 1 hour agoThe Buccaneers finalized their 2011 coaching staff on Tuesday with the announcement of three additions, including two new tutors for the defensive line

Keith Millard has coached some of the most productive pass-rushers in the NFL over the last decade. Grady Stretz has helped produce one of the top rushing defenses in all of college football. Together, they will help the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' youth-studded defensive line reach its full potential.

On Tuesday, the Buccaneers announced the hiring of both Millard and Stretz as they finalized their 2011 coaching staff. Each will carry the title of defensive line coach, but Millard will specialize in teaching the pass rush while Stretz will focus primarily on run defense.

Tampa Bay also added new Defensive Quality Control Coach Tyrone Pettaway to its 19-man staff; see below for the full list of the Buccaneers' 2011 coaches.

A former Pro Bowl defensive lineman with the Minnesota Vikings, Millard is also a veteran of 13 years of coaching, including seven in the NFL with the Denver Broncos (2002-04) and the Oakland Raiders (2005-08). During his time in the NFC West, Millard helped Raider pass-rusher Derrick Burgess earn two Pro Bowl berths, including one in 2005 when Burgess led the NFL with 16 sacks.

In 2006, Millard's Raiders ranked third in the league in overall defense and first in pass defense; that unit was anchored by former Buccaneer Warren Sapp, who led all NFL defensive tackles with 10 sacks. The 2007 Oakland defensive line featured two players who finished in the league's top 10 in sacks, Burgess and Chris Clemons.

With the Broncos in 2004, Millard helped produce the only defensive line in the NFL that featured three players (Bertrand Berry, Trevor Pryce and Reggie Hayward) with 8.5 sacks or more apiece. Denver's defense ranked among the league's top five in both 2002 and 2004.

Originally a first-round pick by the Vikings in 1984, Millard also has a wealth of on-field experience to share with the young Buccaneer linemen. During his outstanding nine-year career (1985-93), he earned three All-Pro nods, two Pro Bowl invitations and two NFL Defensive Lineman of the Year awards. His peak season came in 1989, when he set the league record for sacks by a defensive tackle at 18 and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. Millard's impressive run with the Vikings earned him a spot on the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1980s. He began his pro career in the USFL, playing one season with the Jacksonville Bulls, and ranked second in the league in sacks (12) behind Reggie White (12.5). After his seven years with the Vikings, Millard spent time with the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles.

Stretz comes to Tampa Bay after spending the previous five seasons as the defensive line coach at Arizona State University. This past season, he helped the Sun Devils rank 16th nationally and first in the PAC-10 in run defense (119.7 ypg.) and eighth nationally and second in the PAC-10 in tackles for loss (7.4 per game).

Prior his stint at ASU, Stretz spent eight years at the University of New Mexico where he coached the defensive line (1998-02), safeties (2003-05) and special teams units (2003-05). During a seven-year span in his tenure with the Lobos, New Mexico ranked in the NCAA's top 30 in total defense six times, one of only three schools in nation to do so.

Stretz’s coaching career began at his alma mater, UCLA, from 1996-97. As a four-year letter winner at UCLA, he was a member of the 1993 Rose Bowl team that finished the season ranked 17th nationally. During his senior year (1995), Stretz earned honorable mention all-conference accolades at defensive tackle. Following his collegiate career, he spent time in training camp with the New York Giants, with whom he signed as an undrafted free agent in 1996.

Millard and Stretz will take over a Buccaneers defensive line that is loaded with young talent. Of the 13 defensive linemen who were on Tampa Bay's active roster or injured reserve list at the end of the 2010 season, 12 were age 25 or younger and 10 were either rookies or second-year players.

That group includes four players who were drafted by Tampa Bay in the top four rounds in either 2009 or 2010: defensive tackles Gerald McCoy, Brian Price and Roy Miller and defensive end Kyle Moore. McCoy was the third overall pick in the 2010 draft and was just beginning to fill his vast potential late in the season when he was lost to a biceps injury.

Pettaway joins the Buccaneers after spending the last two seasons as a defensive assistant on the college level, with Tennessee in 2009 and USC in 2010. Pettaway has also served as a training camp assistant under Head Coach Mike Tomlin with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pettaway played at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, N.C. where he was the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year for the Falcons in 2005.

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